Linda Juarez, CEO of Hackley Community Care, said the facility has focused on opening smaller sites rather than building a sole, massive facility.

“Taking a bus — even a mile away — can be really challenging, especially in the winter when you have two or three kids you are taking along for a visit. We’re trying to get closer to the neighborhoods where people live and reside. That’s been our strategy all along,” Juarez said.

In a recent Journal of Community Health article, “Traveling towards disease: transportation barriers to health care access,” researchers at University of Illinois at Chicago acknowledge how transportation problems can lead to delayed care, rescheduled or missed appointments and missed or delayed medication use.

The new location’s employees include two physician assistants and primary care physician Dr. Wayne Kohn, who is the facility’s chief medical officer. As part of the expansion, support staff for the three providers have moved from the center's Muskegon Heights location to the Hackley Campus, Juarez said.

The clinic has hired a physician assistant to cover services for patients who will continue traveling to the Baker Street location.

The facility could make staffing adjustments in the future, once it determines how many patients will travel to the new location and how many will continue going to its larger location at 2700 Baker.

“We’re looking for opportunities for growth, but this is what we’re doing to get started,” Juarez said.

Juarez said the health center began engaging Mercy Health Muskegon officials about the expansion more than six years ago. However, the merger between Hackley Hospital and Mercy General Health Partners in 2008, among other factors, stalled conversations before the two parties reignited the discussions a year ago, Juarez said.

“We were looking at the emergency room utilization and whether people live in that neighborhood have access to a physician and primary care,” Juarez said.

The health clinic has roots at Hackley. In 1992, the facility, then known as Hackley Hospital, opened the clinic inside a renovated house on its campus. It quickly outgrew that space and a second building on the corner of Peck and Barney streets before it moved to Baker Street in 1994.

In 2000, the clinic ended its affiliation with the hospital and became independent.

Hackley Community Care is one of Muskegon County’s two Federal Qualified Health Centers, which aim to help underserved residents secure affordable and comprehensive wellness services.

At its inception, the center focused on pregnant women and new mothers but has grown to offer care to people of all ages. Today its roster includes obstetrics, dental care, behavioral health and pharmacy services.

The new location will not offer dental and behavioral health services, but it could in the future, Juarez said.

Greg Loomis, COO and interim president at Mercy Health Muskegon, said the hospital was "excited" about the partnership.

“We are dedicated to meeting the needs of the underserved within our communities and this can only mean that more people will have access to health care in our community,” Loomis said.

The new location will be open Mondays and Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Wednesday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call 231-737-1335 or visit http://www.hccc-health.org/